The arrest apparently had been a success. Pansy had looked uncharacteristically ruffled, though, when she and Neville had finally returned. Blaise and Luna had had an easier time of it. Blaise complained loudly about how his wife had lured him into this stupid Gryffindor foolery, but nobody took him seriously, because they all knew that Blaise would protect Luna at any cost. Pansy was beside herself with joy, that Neill's curse had been lifted. Neville worried about the squibs at the other end and wanted to return to Hogwarts to check on Matilda Fawley.
Potter had been nowhere in sight, but had written a note, in which he informed Draco that Snape's notes and Snape's memories had been found and asked if he could come to the department so that they could decide on the head auror's official statement in regard to his case. Something nagged at Draco in a corner of his mind, but he was too knackered to identify what it was. He would think that through tomorrow when his head hopefully would be better. He informed Potter via Hermione's patronus that there was no way he would come to the department and he suggested Russell garden square, close to the British Museum in Muggle London, as a meeting point.
There were obviously quite a lot of tales to tell, but the children practically were asleep on their feet, and they decided to return home and to let Colin have the Sunday to sort himself out. Neville would fetch him on Monday morning in time for school. Draco certainly wanted his family far away from the occamy eggs turned curses. He had not liked the speculative glint in Colin's eyes when he had studied the eggs with the encased scutum spell. Colin probably had some stupid Gryffindor idea about how further sacrifices would be necessary to free the elves.
On their ride back Hermione finally had a chance to tell about their occamy hunt, and Draco shuddered about the danger she had been in.
Hermione patted his arm. "If we're lucky, there won't be any need for anything remotely like this in the next twenty years."
Draco chanced a look at her from the corner of his eyes. "I know you did it for Luna, but in the end, it was Potter again, who was involved. And when he is involved, there is danger. You were right about that. Potter means trouble." He tried to keep his feelings out of his voice. He was jealous and angry, and he knew he was being ridiculous.
"Potter," Robert was still awake, the rascal.
Hermione laughed.
"Balloon", Robert shouted, his voice excited.
"Shht," Meg chided him.
"Do you think there is another reason why there are squibs? The magic could evade the elves' working towards the extinction of the houses involved in the curse?" Colin's mind was obviously still wide awake.
"I mean, it makes sense that the magic needs genetic diversity, but that could come into it as well." Colin mused.
"It might take years to unearth all repercussions of the elves' curse." Draco had several suspicions about possible elf involvement.
Hermione nodded. "Interesting idea, Colin, I think it might be both."
They had arrived at their house and Draco pulled over. When he had stopped the engine, he looked at his wife. "I just want you to be careful."
He knew that it was pointless to try holding Hermione back.
"I did not place myself in danger on purpose," Hermione protested.
Draco arched an eyebrow at her, undid his seat belt and bent over to whisper in her ear. "The children need you, the little one needs you. I need you."
Hermione pulled back and studied him.
Somehow, she knew. "I need you as well…. You said so yourself. I did not do this for Harry. Draco, love of my life, remember? And the elves did not make me do anything. We decided to be together."
The children squabbled on the back bench, Colin and Meg had entered an argument. Colin told Meg that she shouldn't have taken something, and Robert began to demand balloons again.
"Do you believe Prudy then?" Draco swallowed.
"I believe that Prudy did nothing but orchestrate Rina's conception. She might be lying about the involvement of the other elves, especially with the contact ban. Just at the end of the ban, you remember, there came up this ridiculous case…. Which delayed our reunion by half a day until the exact time of our separation had passed safely."
Draco nodded. "Or Prudy might be convinced she tells the truth about that."
He shook his head. "But it would have been so easy. Sloane's elves could have planted the idea in his head. Some elves might have given Slughorn the idea about how to meddle with the amortentia analysis. Potter's elf might have riled him up…. It is too neat to be an accident. Prudy is mistaken or she lied to… I don't know … to spare my feelings. And I can't even blame the elves for wanting to be free."
The children still squabbled.
"Get out of the car," Draco snapped at them.
"But, dad, Meg took … "
"I know you're tired but just stop fighting. I don't care what Meg took … "
"Balloon…." Robert wailed.
"For Merlin's sake, get out." Hermione ordered. "Calm down! I must tell dad something important."
Colin unfastened Robert's seat belt and the children climbed out of the car, Meg muttering under her breath.
Hermione placed her hands at the side of his face. "Magic cannot influence real feelings. I've loved you before you freed Prudy. The moonlit night in the hospital wing? I know, you don't remember, but I do, Draco."
She smiled. "That was a hell of a kiss."
Her lips sought his, and just like that, his doubts and his jealousy evaporated.
The children's fighting had not quieted down. They were screaming at each other.
Hermione broke their kiss.
"I think the children need us to settle their argument," Draco murmured.
They got out of the car.
Robert still shouted about balloons at the top of his lungs. He held something in his little hands. Colin screamed at him to lay it down. Meg yanked at his arm.
Draco's heart almost stopped, when he identified what Robert held. No balloon, but one of the occamy eggs, the opal hue glittering in the light of the street lantern.
"Robert, careful now, lay that down." Hermione's voice trembled and her body shook.
"BALLOON" Robert defied his mother and threw the egg up in the air, face turned upwards, his eyes full of wonder.
Draco jumped.
He tried to catch the egg, so that it would not fall on Colin or Robert, and he managed to hold it for the sliver of a moment, but the squishy carrier slipped out of his fingers.
It rolled down his elbow and that proved to be enough to bend the direction of its fall. It hit the car, but did not make a splash. For a second, steam raised upwards from the car, but it evaporated before Draco could be sure, that he had seen it.
They all stood shook for several moments. Hermione's face had paled to a shade of green that made her look like she would spew any moment. Robert and Meg had begun to cry, and Colin's teeth chattered audibly. Draco slammed his hand on the car's door to keep from unceremoniously dropping to the floor. He could feel cold sweat on his face.
"Robert took it out of my bag, I just wanted to look at it," Meg wailed.
"You wanted to look at it," Hermione closed on her. "You just wanted to look at it. Are you completely out of your mind?"
"I told you to leave it be," Colin added fuel to the fire.
Meg cried even more. "I just wanted to look."
Robert was even louder than her. "My balloon."
Their neighbour Ms. Jameson stepped out of the door. "Do you even know how late it is? These children should be in bed."
The corners of her mouth had that frozen downward curve of the permanently discontented. Draco suspected that it had been her who had sent the community service after them. He could practically hear her bitching about the Millers and how they had too many children. She looked at them, as if she suspected them to be drunk.
He showed his teeth at her. "Believe it or not, this is where we are headed. Good night, Ms. Jameson."
He slammed the van's door extra hard. His hands were still trembling.
Hermione glared at their neighbour. Her hand twitched for a tiny moment towards the pocket that held her wand.
They entered the house in silence, Colin shuddering, Meg and Robert sniffling. Hermione's strides looked wobbly.
"I suppose that means we have to bring the van to the garage from now on. Reparo won't work any longer." Draco remarked.
Colin gave a shaky laugh.
Hermione directly went to the cupboard that held their heavy stuff and poured a whiskey for herself and Draco.
"Not to curb your curiosity, Meg," she told their daughter. "But you will never again take a magical item without asking for permission. We were very, very lucky, that dad reacted so fast."
Draco downed the whiskey in one go. His hands just would not be still.
"Robert stole it from me."
"Balloon," Robert sniffled.
"Robert is two, Meg. He could not know how dangerous that scutum egg was."
"Almost three. You always take his side, just because he is the toddler. And he could only take it from me because you were preoccupied with kissing. Ugh."
"Kissing is not a crime, Meg. And it's much better than fighting, wouldn't you say?". Draco was about to pour himself another whiskey and down it, when Hermione looked at her own glass, shook her head with an exasperated sigh and poured the content of her glass into his.
Meg's face distorted into a grimace. And then she began to cry. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody."
His anger fled at Meg's remorse.
"Now, come here." Hermione held out her arms, and Meg wailed and hurled herself into her arms, Robert in close pursuit.
"My, my, none of you were hit."
Both children sniffled into her dress.
"And why would being hit by a scutum be so bad?" Colin wanted to know. "You always tell us that we should not look down on muggles or squibs. If one of us were hit with it, we would just live as muggles, like dad. There is nothing wrong about that. Wizards and witches are terrible anyway."
"I can assure you, that you wouldn't like the effects of pent-up magic. And I would not wish this to my worst enemy." Draco told him.
Colin's face was sullen, and he pressed his lips together.
"Migraine is not just a headache, and the older I get, the worse the attacks become." He did not elaborate on his theory that at some point it might mean his life. He took a sip of his second whiskey and then sighed and put the glass away. It was not a good idea to drink more alcohol on top of the pills he had taken today.
"I'm sure you do not think that all wizards and witches are terrible," Hermione said.
"Muggles think that 'abracadabra' is a common spell. That is awfully close to the killing spell. What does that say about how wizards and witches have interacted with muggles." Colin insisted.
Draco stared at Colin and his heart ached. As usual Colin did not do anything by half. Even losing his innocence.
Colin looked so forlorn, and Meg's mouth stood open. Even her clever mind had never made that connection.
Draco's eyes met Hermione's. Why did a teenager's existential crisis never hit at a convenient time? Draco remembered vividly how they had had several midnight discussions with Rina just after Robert had been born, and both he and Hermione had wanted nothing more than to sleep. Just like now.
"Wizard and witches are people. It pains me to say it, but people are not good or bad. Most of them are both and it depends on the circumstances. It is complicated. I am sure some did very bad things, including your ancestors." Draco looked in Colin's pained face.
"Are you guilty of any crime against muggles?" Hermione asked.
Colin shook his head.
"Are you to blame for the enslaving of the elves, Colin?" Draco asked.
Colin shook his head again. "No, but…." His face scrunched again.
"Sometimes, it can be so important how we call something." Draco pressed his son's shoulder. "There is blame, there is guilt, and none of them is yours. The wizards and witches who did this are to blame."
"We're still responsible, we cannot ignore what our ancestors did." Hermione told him.
"Even yours?" Colin asked.
"I don't know who they were, but somewhere there was a squib with magical parents, so yes, even mine," Hermione answered.
Colin's breath left his body in a puff.
"You helped lift a curse today," Draco told him. "And mum saved captive occamies and a conspiracy was unravelled that would have been very harmful. I would say, we did enough for one day, even for goody two shoes Gryffindors."
"Sorry it did not involve balloons. We'll get you balloons for your birthday." He picked Robert up.
"Time for bed, we don't want that curtain twitcher, Ms Jameson set the social service on us again…"
When they had finally settled, Draco just wanted to sleep. Hermione snuggled up to him, fitting her back to his front, spooning into him.
"What about Narcissa for a girl, and Malcolm for a boy?" she asked.
Draco hummed. "There's still plenty of time to discuss. You haven't even made a test yet. You might not be pregnant."
They both laughed.
She chided him shortly, when he crossed his arms in front of her and reached for her breasts.
"Keep your hands well away, love. My breasts hurt."
"Bloody elves," Draco murmured and settled on putting his arm just around her waist.
His eyes were about to drop close, when the nagging question that had plagued him in the back of his mind suddenly caused him to be wide awake again.
"Love?", he whispered.
Hermione mumbled something unintelligible.
"I don't remember. Did I prepare a second batch of Phoenix Potion? I must have or Slughorn could not have found that. Was that mentioned in my trial?"
He stared into the darkness. It was so difficult to remember without having images to hold on to.
Hermione made a short, irritated sound, but her breathing turned to a steady rhythm almost immediately.
Draco was reasonably sure the second batch had not been mentioned in his trial. How had Potter known about it? And known about it before he had found Snape's memories and his notes at Sloane's?
He stared into the darkness. Sleep evaded him.
Notes:
So, no rest for my favourite family...
I hope you all appreciate the narrow escape.
Chapter 92: Squib
Summary:
Neville and Pansy go back to Hogwarts to check on Matilda Fawley.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ariadne Highborough, the head of Hufflepuff and transfiguration teacher had already gone to bed, when Neville and Pansy pounded on her door.
Neville explained everything to her as shortly as possible and his colleague who had been grumpy and put out for being jolted awake, became alert within minutes.
"We need to check on Matilda Fawley. The aurors and order members are working on undoing the praeda curses on the Muggleborns right now, and there might be a backlash."
"But what to do with her? Is she an accomplice? Do you want to arrest her?" Ariadne was seemingly at a loss.
"Matilda is a child. We don't arrest children." Pansy sounded angry about the suggestion.
"We must first ensure, that she is not harmed. She can't be blamed for her parents' sins." Really how could Ariadne even question that. "She might be able to answer some questions though."
On their way to the Hufflepuff common room they met Rina and John, the heads, who were doing rounds.
Rina showered them with questions. Apparently, she had gotten messages in their family chat that had alarmed her rather than calmed her down.
"What does this all mean, Uncle Neville?"
"I'll explain later, Rina," Neville told her. "Everyone's safe, have no fear. Right now, we first need to check on someone."
"John, could you please go inside and fetch Matilda Fawley? But don't get anybody alarmed." Ariadne smiled, but her smile had a forced quality to it. Neville's anger at her calmed. She had no experience with arrests after all.
"Is Matilda in trouble? She is the shiest girl ever and obedient to a fault." John was uneasy.
"We just have some questions," Neville assured him.
John turned and approached the badger family that guarded the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room.
"What kindness did you do today?" one of the small badgers asked.
"I suffered in silence when my co-head ignored me for half of our rounds." John winked at Rina.
"I was completely elsewhere with my thoughts," Rina protested. "You would be as well, if you had alarming messages by your family!"
The badger studied John. "Hmm, we'll let that count."
The door opened, and John vanished.
"Is Colin all right? Why is he at home?" Rina asked Neville.
"Everyone's fine." Pansy answered. She still looked as if she had had a tough day. There was a strand of her hair that stuck out and disrupted the usual tidy look of her bob.
"What the hell happened? Nothing mum or dad or Colin texted made any sense."
"I don't even know, where to start…." Neville ran his fingers through his hair.
"There has been a conspiracy of purebloods, who tried to put down the minister and the head auror and who stole muggleborns' magic with a permanent spell and transferred it to their squib children. And we arrested them today."
Rina gaped. "And my parents have been involved? Mum and dad helped the head auror?" Her voice sounded shrill.
"That was happenstance. Your mum and Luna found the occamies and their eggs were used to produce the perpetual spells. Your dad's scutum must have been an occamy egg as well."
"And Colin?"
"Well, Colin unearthed the secret of the elves." Neville swallowed. "And that happens to be tied to your family."
Rina shook her phone. "Meg sent the strangest message of all, telling Lizzie and me, that Mum's pregnant again and that the elves are to blame."
Before Neville could delve into that, the picture with the badger family opened and John came out. "Matilda was brought to the hospital ward by Lizzie, because she fainted about half an hour ago."
"Merlin," Pansy cursed.
"I'll tell you later, Rina. You and John, you finish your rounds."
Fortunately, the hospital ward was not far away. Ms. Auren was very busy caring for a very pale Matilda Fawley and Lizzie sat at her side, a worried look on her face.
"She complained of headaches, and then she just collapsed."
"I am at my wit's end, Professor Highborough," Ms. Auren said. "I think we should transport her to St Mungo's. She just won't wake up. And I can't reach her parents."
Neville saw Pansy's eyes shimmering. "You won't reach them. They have been arrested."
Pansy bent over the unconscious Matilda. "She probably broke down when her muggleborn got rid of their curse."
Very carefully she brushed the girl's hair away from her neck, and the light in the hospital ward made the fine silvery necklace shimmer. Pansy took a cloth and carefully raised the necklace. She snapped it in pieces with a quick movement of her wrist.
Matilda opened her eyes and a sigh escaped her lips. Her gaze fell on the pieces of the necklace in Pansy's hand. She gasped and touched her throat.
"My necklace!" Her eyes had grown wide with fear and a dry sob racked her small body.
She searched Pansy's face, and then she looked at Neville and Adriane. Her eyes brimmed with tears.
"You know…" she whispered.
Pansy studied her, her mouth had gone slack. Others might think that she felt nothing, but Neville knew that his wife was fighting to keep her feelings at bay.
"What does Pansy know, Matilda?" Lizzie asked her. She had come closer and tried to hold her hand.
"I didn't want ….. I told my father, that …. " her voice toppled over and then she began to cry in earnest.
Lizzie tried to embrace her, but Matilda shook her off.
"Don't pity me," she wailed. "You don't know what …." The rest of the sentence drowned in another sob.
She cried for a long time, until Neville thought, that there couldn't possibly be a drop of water left in the little girl. At first, she had refused any helping hand, any embrace, any comfort, until Lizzie began to cry as well. Pansy embraced Lizzie then with her left arm and had begun to rub Matilda's back with her right hand.
The girl finally calmed down, and her small hiccups filled the silence of the room.
Pansy coaxed the story out of her, one detail after the other. Neville's heart clenched in pity.
Matilda had been ordered by her parents to never put off her necklace. And then she had been bitten in Neville's herbology class, and Ms. Auren had removed her necklace.
"Nothing happened when I waved my wand. Nothing. I knew then, that my necklace was different than Lizzie's bracelet."
"My bracelet?" Lizzie was shocked.
Neville scowled at Lizzie. "You're not supposed to tell anyone about your bracelet, Lizzie."
Lizzie flushed. "I just told my roommates, that my mum made it for me to protect me."
"But Lizzie can do magic without her bracelet. I saw that." Matilda whispered. "She had lost it after a shower and just accioed it."
She wiped her cheeks, drying new tears.
"You lost your bracelet?" Pansy stared at Lizzie. "Don't let that hear your father, ever. He'd have a fit."
Lizzie mumbled something and looked at her feet.
"I knew something was wrong, and then the headaches started." Matilda continued.
"When did you get headaches?" Neville asked.
"If I did too much magic, or too little. I asked my mother about it, and she told me that the headaches would stop, that it was just a normal part of adjusting to doing intentional magic instead of accidental." Matilda hung her head.
"I knew she lied, though." Her voice was barely audible. "No one else had headaches, just me."
"I am glad you found out. I do not want this." She pointed at the necklace. "Will my headaches stop now?"
"Possibly." Neville felt for the poor girl who had been an unwilling accomplice in her parents' desperate attempts to 'heal' her.
"Your necklace…. " Pansy's voice wavered for a moment. "Your necklace syphoned magic from another child to you. You don't have magic yourself, Matilda."
Matilda let out a huge sigh.
"I think I knew even before I was bitten," the little girl wrung her hands. "I dreamed of another girl, a happy laughing girl. She played with paper birds. But when I came to Hogwarts, that stopped, she became sad and listless, and ever since the incident with the mandrake roots, I dreamt of another girl."
Neville's eyes met his wife's. The name 'Emma' hung between them without being spoken aloud.
"Did your father know about your headaches?" Lizzie asked. "Headaches are so awful. My dad has migraine, but migraine is even worse."
"My father told me, not to act as if… He didn't believe me."
"Or he didn't want to believe you, because then he would have had to accept that he endangered his own daughter with his schemes." Neville wished he had punched Fawley more than once.
He edged closer. "Matilda, I'll tell you something."
He looked at her little face, intent that she would understand. "I came late into my magic. My grandmother and my uncle feared that I was a squib and they tried all kind of things to trigger my magic."
Matilda looked at him with big round eyes.
"One day, my uncle became impatient and he seized me and threw me out of the window…. From the fourth floor." He could feel Pansy's eyes on him. He had never understood until she had told him. It had been the first case where they worked together.
"I managed to levitate myself, just a few inches above the ground. My family laughed with relief, that I was not a squib. And for years and years I would tell this story and laugh about it."
"That is awful, Uncle Neville." Lizzie gaped.
Neville nodded. "What would have happened if I had not found magic in that moment?"
"You might have died." Matilda's lips trembled.
"Yes. I might have died. Tells you much about my family's idea on how much a squib or a muggle is worth."
Pansy laid her hand on his arm and pressed it in sympathy.
"Magic is not everything. It's certainly not more important than life." Neville could still get angry at the Travers family, even after all these years.
The girl's eyes misted over again.
"Matilda, why don't you come with me and we'll try to sort this all out." Pansy pressed her hand. "And I'll tell you all about how my friends Hermione and Draco found out how important squibs are."
"Squibs are important?" Matilda asked.
"You can be a bridge. The Magic itself wants a connection between wizards, witches and muggles." Neville told her.
Matilda drew a deep breath.
"Mum and dad found that out? Is that grandmadam's project on the impact of muggleborns?"
"Grandmadam?" Pansy was shaken by a sudden short laugh.
"Robert invented that," Lizzie told them.
Pansy took Matilda's hand to help her up. "Now, come with me. Poor thing, you must be exhausted."
Matilda hesitated.
"This is not an arrest. We don't arrest children. You need a place to stay, and Neville and I have a big house."
Matilda reached out for Pansy's hand and stood.
"And who knows," Neville said. "It is high time anyway, that we do something for the education of children without magic.."
They left the hospital wing and Pansy prepared a portkey to transport Matilda with her. She kissed Neville goodbye.
"See you later, I'll tuck the little girl in in our guest room."
Neville accompanied Lizzie to the Hufflepuff common room, and they met Rina and John, who had just finished rounds.
"Are you going to tell us about the elves now, Uncle Neville," Rina asked. "And I think I still didn't get every detail about that conspiracy."
Neville sighed. "Only if you promise not to tell anyone. I'm sure it will be all in the prophet on Monday, the latest."
He cast a muffliato around them and told them everything.
Notes:
The story about Neville is canon, just saying.
I think Neville really was held back by his grandmother's expectations.
I headcanon that he only gained confidence in fifth year with Harry's DA lesson and the got a real boost in 6th year, when he finally got a wand that was his own and not handed down to him.
Considering that Fawley - this rotten excuse for a father - is my own invention I am irrationally angry at him.
Chapter 93: Christmas with Colin (December 25, 2005)
Summary:
Just a late breakfast on Christmas day with the new baby and some unexpected visitors.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Draco was tempted to throw his mother-in-law out of the kitchen. She had volunteered to help only to then complain that Draco and Hermione had changed the height of the kitchen desk and that it was not comfortable for cutting vegetables.
"Of course, we have changed it," Draco told her. "I'm almost one foot taller than you. It's me who is mostly in the kitchen, and when Hermione helps, she just adjusts the desk with magic."
He shoved the bread in the oven with more force than necessary and set the timer. Half an hour and then they could start their Christmas breakfast.
"Sorry," Monica said. "That makes sense and it is your house now." She laughed.
"It's our first Christmas together, I want it to be perfect. I'm sorry I snapped."
Monica laughed. "Wendell and I had a huge fight on our first Christmas. On how to decorate the Christmas tree of all things."
"I see, in true Christmas spirit."
The doorbell rang and Draco went to open the door, wondering who it might be. They had invited Prudy to come over, but she would just apparate. Hermione had adjusted the wards to her.
Pansy stood in front of the door, in festive attire, every hair in place, only her eyes gave away that she was under strain. She had conjured an umbrella charm against the slight drizzle.
"Pansy?"
"Can I get sanctuary for the day?"
"What happened?"
"My mother … "
Draco swung the door wide and let her in.
Pansy entered and waved her wand to dry off the remaining drizzle.
She entered the living room, where Rina sat with Wendell, studying her Christmas present, a set of simple puzzles with muggle fairy tales. One of them was the tale of the girl with the raven brothers. It was one of Rina's favourites.
"Hermione is upstairs, swaddling Colin. We'll start with a late breakfast soon. You can join us."
"My mother has invited Marcus Flint and Hermes Trevors for dinner this evening, and I just need a respite before I weather her latest attempt at getting me married."
"What are your objections against the gentlemen apart from the fact that they are not your choice," Wendell asked.
"Marcus Flint has atrocious teeth," Pansy remarked.
"That should be held against him." Wendell agreed.
"And Hermes Trevors is the eldest son and heir of Alkibiades Trevors, the man a colleague of mine arrested for murder. It was a case I helped with. I don't know what possessed my mother to invite him of all people."
Wendell shook his head. "How old are you? 25? 26? Hardly an old spinster! You wizarding people are so old-fashioned. It's ridiculous."
"A colleague? Was that Longbottom?" Draco tried to make an innocent face.
Pansy's cheeks flushed and she shot Draco an angry look. He grinned. He just had fun seeing Pansy squirm. He had lost his bet with Hermione after all, that Pansy would find her courage to ask Longbottom out before Christmas.
"Neville, love, it's Neville, not Longbottom. You should stop calling him by his last name." Hermione entered the living room, holding Colin on her arm. At almost three months he had filled out already and was just short of being an adorably chubby baby.
"I won't have Rina continue to call one of my best friends by his last name. And if you keep calling him Longbottom, she'll just keep imitating you."
"He calls me Malfoy," Draco pouted. "You call me Malfoy. What if Malfoy is Colin's first word?"
"You wish," Hermione said. "It should be obvious that his first word will be Granger."
She changed Colin's seat on her arm, so that he was parallel to her.
"Look your godmother is here!"
Draco had to laugh, seeing the exact same pair of eyes his wife had in the face of his son was still funny to him. His son's main preoccupation at the moment seemed to be looking around, as if he wanted to drink in every information.
"Maybe his first word will be Pansy. She comes over often enough."
"Hi Colin," Pansy said. Her face had softened, and she reached out, giving his nose a tiny poke.
"I'm partial to Granger being his first word, though." Draco said.
"Why?" Monica asked.
"I would love if that would make it to the gossipy parts of the Daily Prophet and if certain people would hear about it." Draco had to smile just at the idea of his father seething about a grandson who looked just like his despised daughter-in-law and calling her Granger.
"As much as I love the idea, I have to admit that it is unlikely," Hermione sighed. "M and P are the easiest sounds to imitate. And it's far too early for first words, anyway."
"Colin is boring," Rina put in. "He just cries and burps."
Draco thought it funny, that Rina played it cool. They had a photo where she sat with Colin on her lap, all excited, and that proved her so wrong.
"And he smiles," Pansy said. "Don't you Colin?" She reached out and Hermione gave Colin to her and as if on cue, he did indeed smile at Pansy's friendly face.
"Shall we look around?" Pansy cooed.
And she walked around the room and showed all kind of things to Colin. Hermione let herself fall on the sofa beside her father and Rina.
"I'm starving."
They heard a slight pop in the hallway.
"We're in here, Prudy," Draco called out. The door opened again and Prudy stuck her head in.
"Tatki is here as well," she said. Draco waved them in.
Tatki grinned widely, as he entered.
"The baby has been safely delivered," he pronounced proudly. "Her name is Rachel. Mother, child and father are well."
The wonderful news was greeted with joy and clapped hands. Draco shared a smile with Hermione. Luna really deserved all the happiness in the world.
"I bet the baby is already surrounded by an abundance of limpiepinkies," he said.
"Blaise said you can come next week to toast the New Year and the baby." Tatki informed them.
Tatki was given the baby cover Hermione had prepared and vanished after a quick handshake with Prudy.
Prudy followed Draco into the kitchen. She insisted that Draco explained what he had prepared for breakfast and what he intended for dinner. Prudy listened to him intently, her ears perked up.
"Chicken stuffed with lemon?" Her ears dropped and she shook her head.
"You poke the lemon and the juice leaks out while it's in the oven, and you remove the lemon later. It's really good. You'll like it." Draco told her.
He made some early preparations for dinner, humming happily.
"Let's just agree to disagree on lemon, eh? How long is your holiday?"
"I'll stay until New Year's Eve if that is o.k. with you," Prudy's ears twitched.
"Fine" Draco told her.
"I wanted to try …" she hesitated and inhaled deeply. "I was thinking about visiting a house in Wiltshire, we both know, and see how the elves fare there."
Draco frowned.
Prudy raised her shoulders, uncertainty on her face. "The elves from that house didn't make an official appeal for a contract."
"Oh," Draco was taken aback. "I had just assumed that they contacted another lawyer, because my …. their master would never let them approach Hermione."
Prudy shook her head. "No, they didn't approach anyone, and I worry about them."
"I am sorry," Draco told her. "Pansy wrote to the lady of said house. She tried to be circumspect and tell her about Colin, but the owl returned, letter unopened."
"I doubt she did that by choice," Prudy patted his arm.
"I know she did not do that by choice." Draco had been angry for days.
"I, myself, haven't tried," he added. "I don't want to trigger anything."
"And you shouldn't. I know you can't do anything about it." Prudy's ears dropped. "I fear I won't be able to contact any of the elves."
"Just tell Hermione if there is anything she can do. You know, she would do anything."
Prudy sighed. "Sometimes it is just hard being patient all the time. I had hoped that …"
Before Draco could ask her, what patience had to do with it and what she hoped, the oven chimed, and Draco took the bread out of the oven.
"Here, the waiting for that was worth it, I am sure. Try, but don't burn your mouth." Steam rose from the fresh piece of bread Draco had broken off with the oven cloth.
Prudy waved her hand over it to cool it with a charm, took it and nibbled at the bread. Her face lit up.
Draco smiled. "No lemon, just some nuts."
He called everyone to table, and they had a lively breakfast. Prudy made faces at Colin and the baby gurgled happily, even reaching out to the elf and taking her hand, holding on to it in a firm grip. Prudy teared up and did not dare to move her hand, until Pansy took pity and slowly disentangled them from each other.
Pansy talked about the department's plans to drive off the dementors on Azkaban. She had delved into studying the patronus charm.
"Have you managed conjuring a corporal patronus, yet?" Hermione asked.
Pansy shook her head. "That is actually why Ha… why I was picked to do the research. There is hope that I will manage and that we might come closer to an explanation why some people have difficulties."
"You know I won't throw you out for saying his name." Draco shook his head at Pansy. "No dementors at Azkaban is a splendid idea. I'll give Potter that."
Wendell who obviously had too much punch already began to tell silly jokes, and Monica and Draco discussed muggle politics. Pansy taught Hermione the special Parkinson charm for shoes.
"You'll never have aching feet," Pansy swore.
Monica sighed. "That would be really practical."
Draco savoured every minute of it. It was completely different to dignified Christmas luncheon at the Manor. He reached for Hermione's hand and pressed it.
"You know," he whispered in her ear. "Nothing about this is how I would have imagined Christmas with my own family to be when I was a child."
Hermione leaned over and kissed him. "Maybe you didn't have enough imagination."
"Or maybe it should be more widely known that people make you happy, not presents."
"I like my present." She fingered the fine silver necklace Draco had bought her, shortly after she had told him she was pregnant again. It was just a chain of rings of different sizes, that could hold small pendants. For Christmas Draco had bought two pendants, one with a green malachite and one with a garnet, one for each child.
The doorbell rang again, and this time Hermione went, a puzzled look on her face. Draco saw Pansy colour when Longbottom's voice drifted through the door.
"Nonsense," he heard Hermione say. "Of course, you must come in."
For a short moment, Pansy looked panicked, but by the time the door to the dining room opened, she had herself in control.
"Ah, Neville," Draco greeted him. "On the run from potential marriage matches?"
Longbottom had stopped in the door frame. A decidedly sheepish look had entered his face.
"Oh, hello," his voice sounded rough. He harrumphed and nodded at everyone.
He finally blinked at Draco.
"How would you know I am on the run from being towed in for marriage? And why do you call me Neville, all of a sudden?"
Rina squealed and pointed at him. "Longbottom."
"That's why. Hermione insists that Rina only calls you Longbottom because I do." Draco shrugged. "Fetch yourself a chair and sit down."
Longbottom waved his wand, summoned a chair and sat at Hermione's side as far away from Pansy as he could get.
"I lied to grandma. I told her I would go to Harry. That is the only excuse she would accept." Longbottom covered his face with his palms. "She invited three incredibly vapid young women."
"Who?"
Neville pressed his lips together. "I am not going to tell. I shouldn't say they are vapid anyway. It's just…."
Hermione scoffed. "I can easily picture them, even without names."
She made a show of hanging herself at Neville's arm. "Oh Neville, please tell me again, how you killed that snake." She batted her eyelashes at him.
Neville flushed.
"So, why didn't you just go to Harry?" Pansy asked.
"Because all the Weasleys will be there, and Molly Weasley has also decided it is time I marry, and I suspect there are even more vapid women waiting for me at Grimmauld's…. Percy's sister-in-law…." He stopped himself again.
"Granger, apparently we run a sanctuary for victims of relentless matchmakers." Draco smirked. "Do you think we should take a fee?"
Hermione arched an eyebrow at him. "For the sanctuary, or for refraining from matchmaking ourselves?"
Neville and Pansy groaned in unison and stopped immediately when they realised.
Monica clapped her hands. "I have a perfect solution. You two just tell your impatient relatives and friends that you date each other and then they stop pestering you."
Not to topple over in laughter was an effort, especially when Hermione pressed his hand in her own attempt to stay calm. It was Rina who saved Neville and Pansy from death by embarrassment and Hermione and Draco from death by suppressed laughter.
"You promised, we'd sing after breakfast, dad." Rina pouted.
In every other circumstance, Draco would have considered the next hour torturous. Longbottom might be an accomplished auror, but he could not sing and it turned out that Prudy's voice was squeaky and sounded like a clarinet out of tune, but they both sang with much more gusto than talent until Colin put an end to the noise with a hungry wail. Although his ears rang like someone had used them as a drum, it was the best Christmas of his life.